User blog:John Pan/The World of Endwar
The World of Endwar Date of Writing: 2020 Historical Background 2016 Great Energy Crisis The oil profits, Sunni-Shi'tite violence and the will to be the leading superpower in the Middle East made Saudi Arabian relations with Iran tense. Both were large, oil-rich nations, both had the potential to become the most powerful nation in the region. To prepare for this, Saudi Arabia, already possessing a massive and powerful conventional army, continued to buy even more equipment, mostly ex-US weaponry from American weapons grants. Iran went and bought Russian and Chinese gear, ranging from fighters to missiles to combat boots. Then Saudi Arabia took it one step further, acquiring ex-South African nuclear weapons technology and Russian Transport-Erector-Launchers (TELs). The Iranian side successfully developed their own fission warheads and mounted them on Chinese-made TELs. A massive Shi'tite slaughter of Sunni people in Iran started it all. Saudi Arabia began a massive offensive, marching its massive conventional army through Kuwait and Iraq to Iran, while also staging an amphibious assault on Iran. Both belligerents' navies clashed over the Persian Gulf, but in the end, the much larger Saudi navy gained the upper hand and began an all-out offensive on Iran's beaches. With the armor pressing in from the west and a beachhead being opened in the south, Iran saw no way but to use its nuclear arsenal. After a warning failed to drive away the invaders, Iran dumped nuclear missiles on masses of Saudi forces, regardless of whether they were in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq, or even Iran itself. Saudi Arabia responded in kind, launching a massive 1,500 missile barrage on key military installations, cities and oil-producing facilities, burying the nation under over 50 Megatons of nuclear warheads. Aftermath The Persian Gulf was flattened—literally. Almost all of Iran, as well as Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, and the eastern portion of Saudi Arabia had been blasted into radioactive ash. Even worse, the “salted” warheads used by Iran had spread massive amounts of radioactive material all over major oil sites, rendering them contaminated and unable to be used for the indefinite future. As soon as it happened, half the world suddenly realized that they would not be receiving their next oil shipment. Major economies all over the world did everything, both legit and illegal, to secure their oil supplies. The US occupied Venezuela and sent military forces all around the world to secure oil assets for their nation. Russia sold their gas and oil shares, then abruptly nationalized every hydrocarbon-related industry in their nation. Europe dug out massive amounts of international loans and bought out Nigerian and North African oil outright, then sent “peacekeeping” forces to secure those locations. China took over control of the South China Sea, as well as every single oil asset in the area. The rest of the world was left with almost nothing. Most 3rd-word nations immediately de-industrialised and fell into anarchy. United States of America Once the world's leading superpower, the post-2016 USA is facing heavy competition from both the Russians—former enemies—and Europe—former allies. Government The USA's current leader is Democrat and the first Hispanic President, David Beccera, a man more focused on the economy than the military. His massive infrastructure projects and his re-industrialization drive solved unemployment but sacrificed the environment to do so. Some industries that are simply too harmful to either the environment (or the workers) are still stuck in foreign places, and in order to protect their investments, most companies either hire PMCs or create their own parliamilitary branch. The recent turn of events (late 2018 to now) has forced him to become the hard-nosed Marine that he once was, and strengthen the military in the face of rising adversaries like Europe and Russia. Territory The USA hasn't expanded past their late 20th century borders, but thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is heavily interconnected (economically) with Canada and Mexico. The US also has a military presence in the Gulf of Mexico and Venezuela, providing the US with all of its fossil fuel requirements. Military The US armed forces are well-equipped and experienced thanks to a massive defense budget. The 2016 crisis has led to a downsize in defense funding, but the emergence of both the EF and Russia has rectified that. The US's combat ideology can be summed up as “One shot, one kill,” making their units stealthy, precise and long-ranged, but they sacrifice survivability and sustained fire capability to do so. With the loss of many bases in foreign territory, the US now focuses on air-transportability for its ground units. This includes bases, which are pre-fabricated into modules and constructed on the battlefield. European Federation The newest superpower to rise, the formation of the EF was a drastic effort in 2016 to save Europe from collapse. Government The EF is a federation of all member states. It is a presidential-parliamentary republic, with the senate dominated by parties that were formed by the unification of existing parties that either struck pacts or expanded into other states to dominate the new political game. Its current leader is President Nathalie Perreau, the leader of Europe's elitist European Unity Party. She is convinced that it is high time Europe has returned to its role as the leader of the world, which has been reflected by the re-colonization (the Europeans call it “Liberation”) of North Africa and the economic and military confrontations with both the US and the Russians, resulting in the disbandment of NATO and the stopping of Russian gas and oil. Thanks to the widespread use of nuclear, solar, orbital, and hydrogen power, the EF is largely energy independent, with the North Sea and North Africa supply the demand for oil. Territory The European Federation consists of Portugal, Spain, Iceland, France, Belgium, Leichtenstein, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (minus Greenland, which was handed over to the US via an agreement in 2018), Italy, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. The rest of the nations in Europe were simply neglected and left to collapse. In addition to mainland Europe, the EF also has a presence (colony) in North Aftica, securing its energy demands (via expansive solar farms and crude oil). Military On the rise and with a larger budget to spend than ever before, the EF's military is homogenous, well-equipped and has access to some of the most advanced designs in the world. European military tacticians believe that mobility and firepower are the two most important aspects of any combat unit, even if they sacrifice survivability and precision to do so. For maximum mobility, EF bases, up to and even including airstrips, are able to be packed up into large logistics vehicles, moved to a new location, and re-deployed at short notice. Russian Federation Thanks to the massive amount of cash obtained from oil export profits and a much less corrupt government, Russia has become a superpower once again. Government The Russian Federation is a presidential-parliamental republic and a federation. It's current leader is Mikhail Sokolov, a former Colonel in the Ground Force, with experience in the intelligence agency who steered the nation away from corruption and led it towards prosperity. However, the prosperity has come with militaristic and authoritarian ideologies. The Russian Economy is largely state-owned, with the gas/oil industry and the arms industry nationalized, the rest of energy and infrastructure generally under government control, and the oil profits pumped into redevelopment and reindustrialisation. With an endless supply of crude oil and natural gas, Russia is fully energy independent and exports crude oil to the rest of the world. Territory The Russian Federation has expanded, taking in Ukraine (pissed off by the EF), Moldova, Romania and Belarus joining as Republics. It has also taken over the oil resources in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and former Iran. Military The recent influx of money and militarism has turned Russian Armed Forces from an underfunded laughingstalk to a powerful, advanced juggernaught. From its past military experiences, Russian high command believes that raw survivability takes precidence over firepower, accuracy, and mobility. They favor cold-war “Armored Avalanche of Destruction” tactics during offense, but in defense they go back to WWI—static, impenetrable lines of defense. Therefore, their base of operations is always a solid bunker that can survive absurd amounts of general-purpose munitions. Category:Blog posts